The advent of light weight yet strong elastic cords has permitted the design of restraining nets that have a wide range of uses to restrain movement of articles. A recent example of the use of such elastic cords have been in automobiles in which a flexible net is positioned across a portion of the vehicle trunk with the end corners of the net formed in a loop which is, in turn, attached by a suitable fastening member to the automobile. The net generally lies flush with the adjacent portion of the automobile trunk wall and when in use the net is stretched and the articles to be stored are positioned between the net and the trunk wall. Under normal use the net is then subjected to forces which tend to stretch the elastic cord loops. In many net designs the loop is formed by taking a portion of a net cord, simply looping it and fastening the adjacent cord lengths that form the loop with a suitable mechanical fastener. Such arrangement is well-known and has been used in prior art designs, however, with the advent of stretchable plastic cords the prior art mechanical designs for securing the adjacent cord lengths together tend to slide along the length of the cords when the cords are stretched as the constant stretching and collapsing of the cord tends to loosen its mechanical connection.
The prior art devices of which Applicant is aware are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,156,574, 4,379,358 and 4,455,717. These patents disclose rope or cord clamping devices or locks which are formed of two releasably engageable members which are slidably interconnected to each other by inserting one member into one end of the other connecting member. Such sliding interconnection forces two segments of a rope or cord disposed in one of the connected members into a fixed engagement with the abutting surfaces of the two connector members. The rope or cord segments are typically disposed at an angle or in an arcuate path to resist slippage.
Another example of a prior art cord locking device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,371. The locking device disclosed therein is used for elastic laces and is formed of two disc-shaped bodies each having two sets of pairs of aligned clamping teeth formed therein and facing each other. The two disc bodies when interconnected together cause the pair of teeth to be spaced apart to fixedly engage an elastic length extending therethrough.
Another locking device known to Applicant is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,999,887 and comprises a plastic base plate mountable on a support surface by means of an adhesive. The base plate includes a central, hollow cylindrical member and two shell-formed holding walls of generally arcuate form disposed on opposite sides of the central cylinder. Each of the shell-form holding parts is provided with a catch portion directed toward the central cylinder.
While the prior art, as known to Applicant, discloses the use of two-part connectors for securing a rope or cord in a fixed position wherein the connectors have mating parts which engage each other to trap the rope or cord therein, none teach or suggest the feature of the elastic cord lock of the present invention which will lockingly engage a stretchable elastic cord such as a bungee cord to prevent the same from any slippage when the cord lock is engaged.